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Long Side of the Bag

SuperStroke
I absolutely love my woods and feel that it would be hard to play without my 3, 5 and 7 woods.
 
I actually based my setup on use. The 10.5 degree driver used to be followed by a 3w lofted up to 4w territory, then a 21* fairway. But I rarely pulled the 3w out of the bag, save for when the driver was misbehaving. And even then I would reach for the Heavenwood instead at lot of times due to comfort. So now I have an 18* HyWood after the driver, then right to my 5i for now. I may put a 4h back in the bag to fill that fairly large gap if it decides to get along with me for a change.
 
The top of my bag is based off of tee scenario. Driver is for any hole that does not have a penalty area that I will most likely hit it into. My next club down is a 2 iron, my max distance for this iron is around 270. I use this for higher wind situations or when I want to poke it out there and stay out of trouble. Then my 3 iron is my best club for 250-260 yard shots that need to hit the fairway or being hit from the fairway. I love my current setup with no 3 wood. I never have been able to hit one and now I have 2 other tee options that work out better.
 
I'm pretty loose with mine since my game is an inexact science anyway. Right now I go Driver, 2 Super Hybrid, then 3 hybrid. P-ave puts gaps at 25 from driver to SH, and 20 from SH to 3h so I think that's pretty reasonable?
 
Driver - 10.5 it works but I can get wild with it

5w - 18* use it as a safety blanket it's my comfort club off the tee and sometimes off the fairway.

3h - when the 5w won't work, never off the tee for me.
 
Actually no real thought was put into it. Got a driver. Then a 3 wood that seemed to work, then a 3 driving iron. No real reasoning for anything
 
This is a good one.

So, I set it up with driver, 3w,5w.
I did that because that is what you are "supposed to do".

Well, that hasn't worked out very well and as I learn about equipment a bit more, I find myself rethinking this.

I'm trying 1 more 3w to see how it works, and if its not successful - I am going to try to experiment with lower lofted hybrids.


Nothing has to match. I mean, great if it does, but its not a requirement for me.
 
I originally had D 9.0 / 3W 15 / 3H 19. Now I have D 9.0 / 3W 15 / 5W 18.
I would use the 3W off the tee if driver wasn't working and 3H was deck/rough. 3H was rarely teed up since I would rather hit 4i off the tee and just lose a little distance.
We will see this year if the 5W gets hits off the tee at all.
 
I have D 9* / 3W 15* / 3H 19* .... 3W & 3H are my faves in the bag.
 
If I play against my friends I play at 6500ish yards and I am the shortest hitter so I have to have plenty of pop in the long clubs. I carry 2 FW’s (5 & 7) and. 2 hybrids (4 & 5). These give me plenty of launch and forgiveness in those spots.
 
I don’t know. I selected the driver I did because the fit was great. Never considered anything other than 3 wood in the next slot. After that it was the UW, which was picked because of the spin and launch profile and the gapping from my 4 iron was good.
 
Driver/3w are primary tee clubs
5w/4hy fill a similar role to each other, but are used in different ways. 5w is more of a par 5 go for it club. 4hy is when I need a big number but I'm in the rough
 
Over the last few bags....my setup has been the following:

Driver
3W
3i or 2Hyb
4i-pw

Ive never loved more than one FW in my bag. For my game i havent found a practical usage for more than one. This past year I ditched they Hyb and and went with a more forgiving 4i/3i combo and I loveeeee the results.

The driver and fairways do match but dont have to. The irons match the rest of my irons and are gapped appropriately.
 
Driver: 210-215
3W: 205-210
5W: 195-205
4h: 180-190
5h: 165-175
6i: 155-165

This is finally going to give me the gapping I have been after. The 3 wood has righted itself of late and is finally delivering the distance I want. Still tinkering with the lofts on the hybrids, but I am pretty confident at this point that I'll get them dialed in.
 
Based on use and fitting. The driver is easy, in the sense that it's one purpose - ball go far. Work with a fitter to determine best grouping and spin rates balanced with max distance.

5W is my most used fairway so I start there. Needs to be playable off the ground and tee. Then I slot a 3W in, provided all my other gaps are filled, since it's predominantly a "maximum off the ground" distance club for me - which isn't called for too often (1-2 times a round usually).

Doesn't have to match, it's all about results.

IN THEORY, right now I'm (based on solid strikes):

D: 240-260 (idealized fitting number is around 275 but we'll see...)
3W: 235-250
5W: 220-235
4h: 200-210
 
Here's the thought so far: Driver is max distance obviously. 2H is max distance with some control. The ESH fits this roll well. I may even use it some more from the turf this year if I keep seeing success with it. After that, I actually hap my 4H & 3H off of my 5I. I'm looking for something that gives me a good progression there. 3H tops out about 220ish off the deck, which is my go range in most cases for par 5s without too much trouble.

Taking a break from FWs right now. I still love them, but find they go the way my driver does so if I'm having a bad driver day I'm hitting a hybrid off the tee anyways. May as well be a long hybrid.
 
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JB said:
How did you setup the long side of your bag? From driver through fairway woods.
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Through comprehensive, brand-agnostic fittings. Priorities are distance, dispersion and (below driver) proper gapping.
JB said:
Base it on loft?
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No. Below the 3 fairway metal I do want to be able to hold the green, but loft is only one piece of that equation. Basically, angle of descent, ball speed and spin rate are the top club factors in holding the green. I've seen clubs with the same loft perform wildly different on those green holding numbers. I've also seen clubs with very different lofts produce similar numbers on those green holding characteristics. Lots of design characteristics go into producing figures that allow you to hold the green.
JB said:
Do they have to match your driver?
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No, and they don't. It's a purely performance-based evaluation.
JB said:
How many clubs do you think is best for your setup there? Driver and two fairways? One FW? No fairways?
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A driver, one fairway metal, and two hybrids. I've tried a lot of different combinations, but with today's technology and my game, this is the best combination at the top of the bag. The fairway metal gives me the longest total distance for second shots on a par 5 or something a little less off the tee. Hybrids are generally superior for holding the green versus the same distance with a fairway metal as they generally fly higher and result in a steeper angle of descent. They are also easier to shape shots, and are far easier to hit out of the rough.
 
@JB, if I am being honest this is an area of my bag that I would like the most help with. I have Driver, 3W, 5W, 3H, 5i. The 5W & 3H are very close to the same loft but carry differently. I'm trying to figure out the best way to determine what I REALLY need in the bag and what to look for. I've always just bought these, because it's what I was told to do. There are so many different options now, I don't know where to start.
 
Completely based off lofts. Driver 9°, 3w 14.5°, 4H 21°. I always use the clubs that I hit the best regardless of OEM so why I'd like them to match they usually don't. I really don't have a need to put anything else in between as the 4H flow right into my irons.
 
I have Driver, 3W, 3H & 4H. Mainly carry the 3 wood as my "I need this to go a ways and I'm not hitting driver off the deck" club. The 3 hybrid is my 225-230 club for I miss hit my driver and need it to go a long way out of the rough club or occasionally going tor a par 5 club. My 4 hybrid is in replacement of a 4 iron and I'm looking for it to be similar to the 3 hybrid in terms of use and is my 210-215 club, then I start with a 5 for my iron set.
 
We will see once the bag sorts itself out but in my perfect world I would like both driver and 3w off of the tee as options and something like a 5h for those longer par 4 and par 5 to be closer to reach them in two.

My distances don't exist but I imagine if they did it would be driver 220, 3w 200 and 5h about 175 but off the deck sort of thing.
 
I still wish I spend more time tweaking this.

Driver - Grip it and rip it. The XB was selected because it went straight. I am not finding fairways right now but it is not by much.
3w - The Radspeed is the easiest 3w I have ever hit I have it lofted down to 13 and have no issues with it. Need to really get in a gap everything
2h - This is a club that I wish was part of the MC selection. Not because I had to pay for it but because I didn't test out when getting fit. I probably should have gone with 3 or even 4h instead
(Utility) - I have the 2U and I can hit it but it hasn't made it in the bag Perhaps I should look at a 4i replacement or a 2nd utility
4i - I am just not as consistent as I need to be with it. Perhaps it is time to replace with a Fli Hi or different hybrid

I understand lofts is not the be all end all to figure out gapping and realistically I need clubs that are just easy to hit in this part of the bag. I have tried the over powering the course and the course whooped my butt.
 
Driver
4W at 3W length
7W at 5W length
4-Utility
 
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